Myths and Truths

Senator Key
Pittman died on November 10, 1940, less than five days after being
re-elected to the U.S. Senate. For years, however, the rumor circulated
that Pittman had died before the election and that his supporters had kept
his body in a bathtub filled with ice in either the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah
or the Riverside Hotel in Reno, to insure his re-election. Testimony
by those present when the Senator died indicated he was still alive on
election day.

Senator Pittman, however,
was very ill at the time of the election. Pittman had gone on a drinking
spree at the Riverside Hotel just prior to the election and suffered a
heart attack as a result. The Senator was transported to Washoe Medical
Center, and news of the severity of his illness was not released.
Nevada voters unknowingly elected a dying man to office--but Senator Pittman's
dead body was not on ice in a bathtub on Election Day.